Give shrinking quail population a hunting break

Maybe it’s because I listen every afternoon to two hapless bobwhite roosters hopelessly calling for a mate out behind my house. Maybe I look at quail numbers and see an empty game bag.

Maybe the folks at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department know something nobody else knows. Maybe they have information that contradicts the overwhelming evidence that quail populations — nationwide — are in long-term, steady decline.

If they do, I wish they’d pull out the double secret file, open it up and let the rest of us in on the good news. That way, observant landowners, bird watchers, outdoors writers, hunters and researchers who say quail populations are in decline will know that they are simply wrong.